Here’s how it works.
We put a post on FB that links to a story over here on the site. FB’s algorithm then chooses which timelines that post appears in. We have 570k followers but posting on our page does not mean that post will appear in 570k timelines – FB makes that choice for us based on over 1000+ variables it tracks on each and everyone one of us with an FB account.
How many timelines a link post appears in is known as ‘organic reach’. If we target particular types Facebook user and pay Facebook to do this then this is ‘paid reach’. In recent months FB has been reducing the organic reach of all Facebook pages in order to ‘encourage’ them to pay to boost their paid reach numbers. However, you can ‘game’ the algorithm if the content is exceptionally popular as no matter what FB does to limit the organic reach it can not stop users from sharing and interacting with popular content. The more interaction a post gets the more it spreads organically.
Generally, when we post a story twice the algorithm will avoid showing it to timelines where it has already appeared, especially if it was clicked on the first time. This means we can keep a good story ‘alive’ and in timelines of people that haven’t yet seen it by reposting the link to it frequently. The more popular a story the more life it has and the more unique timelines it will appear in each time it is posted.
So, in general you won’t see a link post to the same story twice, but with over 1000 variables to play with there is a chance that a small number of people will see it more than once. But again, that’s down to the algorithm making those choices and not us. If you see it multiple times then FB really thinks you should see it based on your interests and behaviour. Ironically, negative reactions to a post (angry emoji or even angry comments) are seen by the algorithm as reenforcement signals and you are more likely to see posts from that source in the future. So, all the ebike haters who keep complaining in the comments of a post that ebike stories are all they see from us have inadvertently become the architects of their own situation by commenting. The lesson is, either ignore posts that you don’t like or hit the ‘see less of this’ link in the top right of a post.
Each time we post that link post it goes mental on FB and reaches a new audience each time. It’s been and continues to be a profitable story for us and we make money each time we post it.
This is how we earn our living from publishing content on social media.
Hope that helps explain things 🙂
